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W. S. WOOTTON. DRY HOUSE.

\ Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

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I DRY HOUSE.

No. 375,306. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.

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WILLIAM s. woo'r'ron, 0F seoTTsB RG, Assrenon T0 J. M. eAnRIne'roN,

or SOUTH nos'ron, VIRGINIA.

DRY-HOUSE.

SPECJ'IPICATIQN forming part'of Letters Patent 0. 375,306, dated December 20, 188'].

, Application filed Marcht, 1887. I Serial No. 229,851. (No model.) H

To all whom, it may concern:

Be known that I, WILLIAM S. Woorcron, of Scottsburg, Halifax county, in the State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dry Houses particularly adapted to the curing and ordering of tobacco, but applicable to other purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and accurate description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention, partly in section. 1 Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the boiler. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of boiler in place in the heater.

The object is, in all devices for drying by artificial heat, to heat the air which afterward passes over the substance to be dried, to evaporate and take up the moisture therefrom; but some substance require treatment different from others, because they are more affected byimperfect action of the drier. Foriustance, if the hot air is already saturated with moisture, or nearly so, it will heat and bring to the surface of the material under treatment the moisture contained therein without power to take up and carry away the same. -Indr1ying lumber this would not be any material detriment, because it would eventually be dried or removed in dressing the lumber; but in drying fruit the beads of gummy moist:

' are thus brought to the surface will cause spots which blemish the appearance. In curing tobacco the. occurrence of such spots seriously injures its market value. It is therefore of importance that the air shall not be heated too high, and that it shall not be damp when it passes to the substance under treat ment. If the temperature is too high, the moisture is brought to the surface too rapidly, and if the warm air is already saturated with moisture it cannot take up and carry away .that which the warmth causes to exude.

In the treatment of tobaccoit i's'necessary to maintain in. the leaves a certain degree of humidity in order to render them pliable without being brittle, and when the leaves have been once cured they will become too dry and brittle in dry weather, so that they cannot be handled. Restoring the requisite moisture is called ordering or putting in order, and is usually effected by means of steam discharged into the'apartment where the tobacco is. t is the common practice to permit the tobacco to continue hanging in the curing house or barn until the time for packing and Large dry-houses are commonly constructedof wood. For convenience and economy of space -I dig'a pit, B, about two feet deep and extending under the building A to the rear end of the heater 0. Grate-bars d d are placed in this pit, supported either'upon transverse bearers or in the side walls,'E.when themselves transverse to the length. The gratebars may be suflici'ently elevated to constitute an ash-pit below them, or a special pit, E, may be dug for the purpose. A door, G, closes the front of this fire-chamber.

The fire-chamber above describedis such as I have used for burning wood. Modifications to adapt it to the combustion of coal will occur to any person skilled in stovesand furnaces.

The iron heaterG consists of a sheet-iron shell resting on the fire-pit walls E, and its inner end is open forthe-admission of the flame and products of combustionfrom the fire pit. Said flame and hot products pass forward within said heater 0 to its front end and thence escape into the flues F. Thus the surface of the shell Ois heated. But to furnish an abundant supply of warm fresh air'a conical pipe, H, is placed within said shell 0 and extends through the same, projecting. at both ends. The smaller end projects through the outer end of the shell C and extends to and through the wall .of the dry-house A, so asto open in the open air without. I This forms an open conduit from the external atmosphere through the hot shell 0 to the interior of the kiln, through which fresh airmay freely pass and be heated as it passes; and the pipe H, being conical, with its larger end inward, not only presents an enlarging expanseof hot surface, but it also permits the air to expand as it augments in temperature, without checking the inflow. The upward inclination of the pipe H toward the inner end also assists its free and rapid transition through the heater.

For convenience I flatten the outer end of the heater 0 to the form of an ellipse, whose shorter diameter is the diameter of the pipe H where it passes from the outer end of said heater; and I close this end of the heater with an elliptical plate. The fluesF are connected with these laterally extended or flat tened sides of the heater, which has much larger side ehambers,t,in communication with said flues than would be possible if the heater preserved its cylindrical form. The external opening into the pipe H is covered and protected by a hood, j, to prevent direct access thereto and to guard against the entrance of smoke, dust, and ashes from the fire-box. The fluesare extended laterally, with a slight inclination upward, and follow around the walls A at a little'distance therefrom to a point opposite the heater, and they then cross to a place over the heater, where they unite and pass out through the wall or up through the roof, as desired. By this arrangement of the fines F, I save nearly all of the heat which would otherwise be discharged into the outer air with the smoke; but of course the smokeflues may be arranged diflerently without materially changing the effect, through I prefer the arrangement shown.

To employ my heater in ordering tobacco or other similar purposes I provide dampers k k in the several pipes and fines, so that passage through them can be arrested or diverted at will. I also connect the chambers i i with air-pipe H by means of pipes M M, provided with dampers and also a pipe, L, which connects said pipe H with flue F near its point of discharge. The pipe L is also provided with a close-fitting damper. At the inner end of the heater 0, I provide a door, N, which swings outward on a horizontal pivot and communicates with the fire-chamber. A conical boiler, O, is now provided adapted to fit within the pipe H, and extended from its inner end forward to the front end of the heater 0. A conical fine, extends through said boiler, its larger end being at the inner or larger end of the boiler and close to its lower margin, and the smaller end of said flue being at the smaller end of the boiler and near its upper margin, so that the general direction of said flue is a little upward. Its smaller end communicates with the pipe H near to its junction with the pipe L. The larger end of the flue p is provided with a hood, q, extends downward so as to communicate with the door N, and then flame and hot products of combustion may pass from the pit through the door N into the hood q and flue p, and thence through the pipes H and L into the flue F near its point of discharge. When the generator O is being employed,it is not desired to heat the atmosphere,and therefore the dampers in flues F are closed and the dampers in pipes M are opened to permit the hot products of combustion a quick passage to the open air. A steam-dome, 12, attached to the boiler, and steam drawn therefrom may be conducted to any point desired through a steam-hose or in some other convenient way.

Having described my invention, I clairn- 1. In a dry house or kiln, a fire-pit and a heater, 0, combined with a conical air-tube, H, placed longitudinally through said heater and having its smaller end extended through the wall of said dry-house and into the ex ternal air, and its larger end open for free discharge into said kiln.

2. In a dry house or kiln, a fire-pit combinedwith aheater, 0, each end forming the figure of an ellipse, but one having its major axis vertical and the other having its major axis horizontal, and an internal longitudinal air-tube, H, and fines F, whereby the ehanr bers i t are formed, as set forth.

3. The combination, in a dry-house heater, of the fire-pit and the heater 0, provided with the longitudinal air-pipe H, the pipes M M and L and dampers in the same, and the door N at the rear of the fire-pit, as set forth.

4. The fire-pit and the heater 0, provided with the conical air-pipe H, the smaller end whereof extends through the wall of the dryhouse, and the hood j, closed in front but open laterally to protect the same, as set forth.

5. The fire-pit and the heater 0, provided with a door, N, and pipes M M and L. combined with the boiler 0, provided with a longitudinal flue and a hood, q, whereby the products of combustion may be caused to pass through or around said boiler, as set forth.

W. S. WOOTTON.

\Vitnesses:

R. D. 0. SMITH, J. B. McGIN. 

